(3) That Sinking Feeling
by Writer25
Summary: Fred accidentally warps himself and Sam on board the ill fated Titanic without Joe or Fina. Will the two of them be able to find The Book and make it off the ship on time? If that wasn't bad enough they run into their old "friend" San-Li who may be holding a grudge against them.
1. Chapter 1

Flour and sugar covered the counters and table top while spatterings of oil, milk, and batter covered the floor. Fred swore under his breath as the electric hand mixer jerked in his hand and another spray of batter hit the floor.

"Are you making a mess over there?" Fina called over her shoulder.

"No." Fred lied and tried to wipe up the batter with his foot. He cringed when all he did was smear the batter even more.

"I can tell you're lying." Fina called in a sing song voice.

Fred pursed his lips to keep from laughing. Fina had only been here for a month or two but they had come to know each other pretty well and were pretty good friends. Right now she was helping him bake some treats for his team's upcoming bake sale. She was frosting the cake while he was on mixing duty for the cup cakes. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead baking since that was a girl's job, but Fina was doing him a favor. Besides, she promised him a fresh batch of cookies if he helped. Fred had to admit it; he had fallen absolutely, totally in love... with her cooking. He truly envied Joe because living with Fina meant that she cooked all of his meals when Mrs. Arthur's back was turned and Fred had to settle for the occasional leftovers. It was only fair that he leveled the playing field by skipping school and have Fina and more importantly her cooking all to himself.

He turned on the mixer again but was only able to mix a few times before the stupid thing jerked again and splashed batter onto the floor.

"Fred!" Fina spun around and walked over to him to look at the mess. "How do you keep spilling batter all over the floor?"

"Hey!" Fred lifted his hands in self defense. "It's not my fault. Joe's mixer is possessed okay?"

Fina looked around the kitchen at the rest of the mess and wrung her hands together nervously.

"Joe's going to be so mad at me." She said biting her lip.

"Relax," Fred said draping an arm across her shoulders. "He's not going to get mad at you. I'll make sure of it."

"You're right," Fina smiled up at him sweetly. "I'll just tell him it was your fault."

Fred dropped his arm from her shoulder. "No you won't."

"Yes I will."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

Fred tried to frown and look intimidating but couldn't help but smile. Fina giggled and turned to take the cookies out of the oven. He was considering stealing a little taste of the frosting on the cake when he heard her give a little hiss of pain. He spun around and saw her taking out the baking pan with her bare hands.

"What the hell, Fina!?" Fred shrieked, grabbed an oven mitt, and snatched the tray away from her.

"What?" Fina asked innocently. "What did I do wrong?"

"You're freakin' burning your hands!" Fred set down the pan and turned to look at her. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Fred," Fina sighed and showed him her hands.

He watched as the nasty looking, dark red burns slowly change color and heal. He shuddered in mild disgust. Fina had accidentally cut, burned, and even broken her hands or arms over and over again and healed over and over again, but he still wasn't used to it. More importantly he never liked seeing her in pain, even if it was temporary.

Fred sighed in frustration. "Please stop hurting yourself. Or letting yourself get hurt. Or whatever. I don't care that you're a healer, just... please be more careful."

Fina shrugged and went back to the table to finish frosting the cake. Fred grabbed the bowl of cupcake batter and followed her. She was humming softly to herself and he felt his aggravation fade away. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth and tried to carefully pour the batter into the paper lined pan. He glanced up to see Fina watching him with a small smile on her face.

"Hey," He said quietly. "Why don't you let me take you on a tour of New York sometime? I could show you some really cool stuff."

Fina smiled at him brightly and tilted her head to the side. "You mean like a another double date?"

Fred's smile dropped a little. Oh yeah. That's right. He had a girlfriend. Not that he was trying to hook up with Fina or anything, it was just that Jodie had a tendency to get jealous around other girls. Besides, Fina was kinda, sorta with Joe right?

"I didn't mean like a date or anything," He quickly tried to recover. "Just as friends or whatever, if Joe hasn't already-"

"If I haven't already what?" Joe asked suddenly walking into the kitchen followed by Sam.

Joe's confused look turned to shock as he stared at the mess in the kitchen. Sam's mouthed formed a small "O" and he looked like he was struggling not to laugh.

"What. Did. You. Guys. Do. To. My. Kitchen?" He asked slowly no doubt trying to hold in his outrage.

"Is this what you skipped school for Fred?" Sam snickered. "Is Fina teaching you how to be a good little house wife?"

Fred glared at him but winced when Fina hit him in the arm.

"You lied to me!" She chided him. "You told me you got special permission to skip classes to prepare for the bake sale!"

"What about my kitchen!?" Joe said angrily. "My mom is going to kill me if she sees this mess!"

Fina walked over to Joe and placed a hand on his arm. "Calm down, calm down. I'll start cleaning right away."

"No," Joe sighed and threw a look at Fred. "It wasn't _all _you're fault. I'll help you too. Come on, I'll show you where the mops and bucket are."

Fred watched them leave the kitchen with a small frown on his face. Sam walked up to him and gave him a look.

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Really?" Sam shook his head. "Skipping school to mess around with Fina behind Joe's back? While you're dating his great grand daughter?"

Fred looked at Sam like he was crazy. "Mess around with Fina? What are you talking about? We're just friends and she's doing me a favor."

"Really? So would Jodie be happy with you two alone in the kitchen like this?"

"Of course not. But that's because she's the jealous type. Me being around any girl would drive her crazy."

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes. Before Fred could defend himself further Joe and Fina walked back in carrying several mops, brooms, and pushing a bucket full of water. Joe and Fina mopped one side of the kitchen while Fred and Sam swept the other side.

"Ugh, this is taking forever." Fred groaned after only ten minutes. "I know a waaay better way to do this and we could be done in thirty seconds.'

"Oh yeah?" Joe said rolling his eyes. "And what way is that?"

"I'll show you." Fred grinned and went over to Joe's discarded backpack.

It was the same backpack Joe had since the fifth grade and just like then, The Book was nestled in between textbooks and notebooks. Fred pulled it out triumphantly and saw Sam pale.

Joe finally glanced up at him and took a step back, apprehension written all over his face.

"Fred..." He said slowly. "What are you doing? I'm still not finished reading that yet."

"Chill Joe," Fred waved a hand dismissively and started flipping through The Book. "Samantha once did this thing where she used The Book and made me and Sam dig a ditch in like five seconds."

"Yeah but do you remember what she said?" Sam asked panicky. "Because I sure don't and who knows what could happen if you mess with that thing?"

"I know what I'm doing." Fred frowned.

Uh-oh. Now what he mentioned it, Samantha did say something to make The Book do that thing. And... Fred couldn't remember what it was. He tried to b.s it though and started mumbling whatever he could think of, hoping that The Book would do the rest for him. He knew he made a big mistake when curls of green and strangely cold mist began pouring out of The Book followed by what looked like green snow.

Sam screamed and started to run away but slipped on some spilled milk and fell into him, knocking them both over. They fell through the mist and quite literally through time and space.

* * *

They landed hard on a cold, damp wooden floor and the freezing night air closed around them in a choke hold.

"Holy crap!" Fred leaped up and started jumping and down holding his arms. "What happened to the heat!?"

"F-f-Fred," Sam stood up and pulled his jacket tighter around him. "I swear if you warped us to Antarctica again-"

Fred ignored him and started to look around. It was pitch dark out except for a spattering of stars in the sky and he could hear the sound of water. When he noticed the railings he broke into a smile.

"Cool," He turned to Sam with a grin. "I think I warped us onto a cruise ship."

"With our luck I highly doubt it." Sam mumbled taking a look around himself.

Fred rolled his eyes and looked around to see if Joe and Fina had warped with them. He frowned. Oh well, more gambling and shrimp cocktails for him. He looked around again and saw Sam staring at something on a door. He was trembling in fear and looked even more spazzy than usual. Fred went over to see what he was looking at.

"R.M.S Titanic." He read out loud and grimaced. "As in that sappy movie Jodie keeps trying to get me to watch with her?"

"No, Fred." Sam said in a whisper. "Titanic as in the ship that hit an iceberg, sank, and over seventy percent of the people died."


	2. Chapter 2

The stood silently for a moment before a freezing cold breeze reminded Fred that he left his jacket back at Joe's. He grabbed Sam and pulled him through the door, letting out a sigh of relief when a wave of warm air washed over them.

"I can't believe we're on the Titanic." Sam whispered faintly. "_The_ Titanic."

"Hey, it's no big deal." Fred put a hand on his shoulder. "They did the whole women and children first thing, right? And you know when the ship is going to sink. We'll just hop on a life boat before things get bad."

"Oh, yeah?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "And what about The Book?"

"We'll find it." Fred said confidently. "I mean, it can only be in so many places right? We are on a ship in the middle of nowhere."

Sam sighed and looked unsure but then finally nodded. He suggested starting at the library first making Fred cringe internally. Libraries never really had a good meaning to him because it made him think about homework and school work; two things that were never really his forté.

"Okay so where would the library be?" He asked.

"Probably somewhere aft of the ship," Sam mumbled rubbing his chin in thought. "Second class maybe?"

"Aft, second class, right." Fred nodded already feeling lost.

"Aft means back of the ship, Fred."

"I knew that."

Sam rolled his eyes and didn't bother trying to hide a smirk. "Come on, let's see if we can find out where we are."

They started walking, passing a lot of closed doors and Fred noticed something weird. Aside from a few voices and some faint music playing, everything was oddly quiet. And...still? That was it; there was no creaking or groaning and gentle bobbing up and down. Fred had been on both a cruise ship and a fishing boat and there was always some amount of rocking involved as well as the sound of the ship's motor or engine running. The hallway was also a lot fancier than Fred had expected. The carpet was a lush red color and fancy painting hung on the wall alternating with vases of flowers that stood on pedestals.

"This is so weird." He whispered to Sam. "I feel like I'm in an art museum or a fancy hotel or something."

"This must be first class then," Sam's shoulders' tensed a little. "We have to be careful not to get mistaken for third class passengers. We aren't exactly dressed like the sons of millionaires."

Fred looked down at what he was wearing and frowned. He wasn't dressed that badly. He wore his favorite hoodie and his jeans were actually clean for once. Well, aside from some batter he accidentally spilled on his knee. And the sprinkling of flour on the left sleeve of his hoodie. He smiled to himself. Baking with Fina was a really fun if messy experience. She didn't seem to mind him making a mess or doing things wrong. She was patient with him and even found it "adorable" to put it in her words. Fred found himself frowning a little. Adorable? No, _she _was adorable with patches of flour on her cheeks and her hair becoming messy. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to be described by her as adorable.

"Do you like Fina?" Sam asked suddenly.

"What?" Fred jumped and saw Sam giving him an odd look.

"Do you like Fina?" Sam repeated. "Because you've sure been spending a lot of time with her lately."

"She's fun to be around and she can cook like, crazy good food." Fred shrugged feeling a little uncomfortable. "Besides, I have a girlfriend remember?"

"Alright," Sam said quietly. "I just wanted to make sure you remembered that."

Fred narrowed his eyes was just about to ask him what _exactly _he meant by that when they came to a door that was held slightly ajar by a maid's cart.

"Finally," Sam sighed in relief. "Someone we can ask for directions."

They crept into the room quietly and found it almost completely dark except for one lit desk lamp. There was a small vacuum in the middle of the sitting room as well as a bucket of cleaning supplies, but no maid. There was a small noise coming from the bed room and Fred started to head in that direction until Sam tugged on his arm. Sam looked nervous and shook his head no, but Fred shrugged. They needed to find the library right? So why not ask the maid?

"Um, excuse me?" Fred said trying to be polite as possible. "We were just wondering if you could help us?"

The maid jumped and spun around in surprise. Fred peered closer trying to see her face in the darkness, but she leaned away sinking further into the darkness.

"Um, sorry," She said in a voice that sounded kinda familiar. "You may want to ask a steward, I'm just here to clean the room."

"Wait a minute," Sam said peering closer.

He reached over and flicked on a light and Fred had to close his eyes for a moment against the sudden brightness. When he opened them again he realized why the maid's voice sounded so familiar.

San-Li stood before them in a maid's outfit, blinking and rubbing her eyes.

"Oh great, just what I needed," She mumbled frowning. "You two losers."


	3. Chapter 3

Sam's stomach dropped and he felt the blood drain from his face. He glanced at Fred and saw him swallow nervously. He glanced back at San-Li and was relieved to see that she didn't have her sword, but she was still every bit as intimidating. Joe had told them how she broke into his house and threatened Anna. But suddenly Fred burst out laughing.

"Nice outfit." He snickered. "French maid looks good on you."

Surprisingly, San-Li's cheeks turned pink and she looked embarrassed.

"Shut it," She growled menacingly. "And get the hell out of here I'm working."

Fred looked confused but Sam noticed that there was an open jewelry box on the night stand , she was hiding something behind her back, and there was a suspicious bulk in her apron pocket. Sam would just been content to just back out of there now and find someone else to help them, if it wasn't for the fact that they heard footsteps enter the sitting room.

"Oh dear, isn't the maid done cleaning yet?" A woman's voice said.

"Hmm, probably waiting for a tip no doubt." A man's voice chuckled.

San-Li blew her bangs upwards in a sigh of frustration temporarily revealing her eye patch.

"Perfect," She mumbled. "Just my luck."

"Quick," Sam hissed urgently. "Put whatever you stole back before they come here."

"I have a better idea," San-Li muttered a certain glint coming into her eyes.

Before they could react she threw them what she was hiding behind her back; a thick gold chain and a ruby and diamond pendant. Sam thought it was ironic that this was one of of the few times he caught something that someone threw to him. They then stared in shock as she roughly tore the shoulder of her outfit and slammed herself against the nightstand causing a loud bang and the lamp to fall with an even louder crash. She lay on the floor and threw them a wink before assuming a terrified expression.

"Help! Thieves!" She shrieked loudly and now with a French accent. "Oh mercy, someone please help me. Someone please save me from these thieves."

"Run!" Fred yelled finally breaking Sam out of his state of petrification.

They started to run out of the room, but were stopped by a large burly man in a tuxedo.

"Hold it right there gents," He thundered grabbing them by the collar. "Who are you two and what have you got in your hands?"

Sam looked down and saw that he and Fred were still holding the jewelry San-Li threw them. She came limping out of the bedroom holding her shoulder with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh please monsieur," She wept. "I was cleaning your room like you asked when I thought I heard a noise coming from your bedroom. I investigated and caught them riffling through mademoiselle's jewelry box, but when I tried to call for help they, they, attacked me!"

She collapsed in a puddle of tears and Sam and Fred could only watch in shock at her quality acting skills. Even under all the anger he felt at being used as an escape route Sam could still feel a twinge of guilt for making her cry. What wait!? Oh man... she _was_ good.

"We didn't steal anything I swear!" He defended himself starting to panic. "She was the one stealing your jewelry not us! Check her apron pocket!"

San-Li shot him a murderous look but the large man only scoffed.

"Nonsense," He said gruffly. "And I suppose she hurt her shoulder herself as well?"

"Yeah that's right!" Fred nodded eagerly. "You see, she's a time thief who travels through time stealing stuff and tricking people into giving her their crap. Man are we glad you guys didn't fall for it."

Sam rolled eyes and resisted the urge to kick him for being so careless. He caught San-Li's eyes and was surprised to see mild amusement in her expression.

"That's enough crazy talk." The man said angrily dragging them into the sitting room.

The woman called the ship's constable and the man watched them in stony silence as she comforted a quietly weeping San-Li. Sam shook his head still shocked that he still felt a small twinge of guilt in the back of his mind. His musings were cut short when the ship's version of the police came in. He and Fred tried pleading their case again, but to no avail, San-Li was just way too good of an actress. And the next thing Sam knew they were being handcuffed, and dragged several down several floors to the bowls of the ship into a small storage room where they were handcuffed to a large pipe. The only thing else in the room was a table, a chair, and a cabinet full of keys.

"Now you two stowaways are going to stay here until we dock in New York and then we'll charge you will attempted burglary and assault." The constable said snapping the handcuffs shut.

"But we keep telling you we're innocent." Fred groaned in frustration. "She's _lying_. She's the one who was stealing jewelry and she's the one who slammed herself into the nightstand."

"Enough talk!" The constable yelled banging on the pipe for emphasis. "Now behave yourself or there will be no supper for you."

The constable slammed the door shut with a loud bang and left them alone. Sam could feel a panic attack coming on as he and Fred tugged uselessly on the hand cuffs.

"This isn't working." Sam panted feeling his wrists throb painfully. "We have to try something else!"

"What are you so panicky about?" Fred asked continuing to tug on the cuffs. "When he comes back we can just tell him that the ship is going to sink and he'll let us right out."

"There's no way they'll believe us." Sam shook his head. "The builders claimed that this ship was unsinkable and everyone believed them."

"Well that was stupid." Fred mumbled. "So what are we going to do? If the ship sinks while we're handcuffed down here-"

"We'll both drown to death." Sam finished for him.

They took one look at each other and started yelling for help at the top of their lungs. No answer. No one even came to tell them to be quiet. They only stopped when their throats became sore and then they heard the laughing. A slow seductive chuckle that made Sam shiver. He looked around wildly for the source and then the air in front of them darkened and the very air rippled. San-Li materialized in front of them and Sam and Fred both jumped in surprise.

Instead of her maid outfit she was now wore a tattered brown skirt with baggy pants underneath, an off white blouse, a heavy black jacket, thick books, and a small hat.

"If there's one thing I love most," She said with a large grin. "It's two cute guys in handcuffs."

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked suspiciously. "Here to gloat about how you got us arrested?"

"Of course not," San-Li pouted mockingly. "What kinda girl do you take me for?"

"Pfft," Sam scoffed under his breath. "The kind who's a really good actress that's for sure."

Suddenly San-Li materialized in front of him, her lips a mere few inches from his. She gently caressed his cheek with her sharp finger nails and he felt a different kind of shudder run through him.

"Ooo, snarky and cute." She whispered a bit menacingly. "I like that in a guy, but be careful what you say to me. I can be mighty sensitive and I might lash out in anger."

Sam was frozen in fear until Fred cleared his throat loudly. "Um excuse me! Can we get back to why you're here exactly?"

A look of irritation crossed San-Li's face before she smiled again and stepped back from Sam.

"I felt bad for you guys." She shrugged. "I'm not completely heartless. Besides, I sorta need a little... favor..."

She leaned against Fred and began tracing one of his muscular arms. She smiled at him seductively and Sam was a bit concerned to see Fred blushing. He really, really hoped that Fred was smart enough not to fall for her seductive act.

"W-well, um," Fred stuttered blushing. "I-I guess I-, I mean, um, _we _could help you."

"Not so fast, Fred-" Sam said quickly and then turned to San-Li with a suspicious frown. "What is it _exactly _do you want from us? Because we don't have The Book with us and we don't know how to get rid of the ban. Not that we remove it for you in the first place."

San-li's eyes flashed towards him and he jumped a little at her piercing gaze. She looked like she was stuck between slapping him and laughing in his face. All she did though was shrug and step back from Fred to look at both of them.

"I know that." She shrugged. "But I also know what you aren't going to find your book handcuffed to this pipe. Which is why I stole this."

She reached inside the front of her shirt and pulled out a small brass key.

"You're just going to let us go?" Sam asked incredulous.

"Hmm, not quite." San-Li said with a small smile twirling the key around her finger. "Like I said I need a little favor. You see, because you two morons almost blew my cover I decided to call it quits for this little job and head home, but then... "

She paused and pulled out her pocket watch and looked at it with complete and utter irritation. "This stupid thing went on the fritz and won't work right now."

"So you're hoping to hitch a ride with us?" Fred glared.

"Bingo!" San-Li smiled brightly.

Fred looked over towards Sam and whispered, "What do you think Sam? Can we trust her?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice, Fred." He whispered back. "It's either that or we stay here until the ship sinks."

"Cutie's right." San-Li said to Fred, but wrapping an arm around Sam's shoulders. "I'm not giving you guys much of a choice at all."

They heard footsteps coming down the hall and everyone tensed. There was a collective breath of relief when the footsteps faded away. San-Li quickly unlocked their handcuffs and reached down towards a duffel bad on the floor that Sam didn't notice was there before. She then tossed them two bundles of clothes similar to the ones she was wearing.

"Swiped them from second class." She explained sitting on the table with her back to them. "Better put them on or they'll recognize you two as the two stowaway thieves that tried to take advantage of a poor, helpless maid."

"Helpless my butt," Sam mumbled but he and Fred started getting dressed anyway.

As they changed he glanced back at San-Li to make sure she wasn't watching them and found her watching Fred as he pealed his shirt off revealing muscles gained from fourteen years worth of playing sports and a relatively recent growth spurt. Her lips were pursed and there was a small smile on her face so it wasn't hard to tell what she was thinking about. Sam looked down at his own lanky body and frowned. What...wait!? He shook his head and cleared his throat to get Fred's attention.

Fred looked at him quizzically, but then smirked when he noticed San-Li watching him. He looked back at Sam, chuckled, and rolled his eyes.

"I guess some girls just can't help staring at all this awesomeness." He said arrogantly.

"As if," San-Li scoffed and turned back around. "I'm not much for dumb blonds."

"Hey," Fred frowned. "Who you calling a 'dumb blond'?"

"Hotdumbblond say what?"

"What?"

"Exactly." She threw a wink over her shoulder at Sam and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

They followed San-Li down three hallways and up two flights of stairs. Fred seemed completely at ease and was peppering her with questions, but Sam still had a few reservations about her. One the one hand he was grateful that she came to free them, but then again she was the one who had them arrested in the first place. And Sam could never forget the image of her sword going through Fina's chest.

"So what's it like being a time thief?" Fred asked eagerly. "Do you really get to keep everything you steal? And no one notices?"

"If I'm careful yeah." San-Li shrugged. "Although you'd be surprised at how little something considered seemingly priceless is worth on the black market."

"Then why sell on the black market?" Fred asked. "In the time we come from treasure is treasure."

Sam saw San-Li's fist tighten momentarily and a look of irritation flash through her eyes. It passed and she smiled at Fred.

"I'm well aware of the intrinsic marketing values of your time period, Fred. As for my involvement with the black market, let's just say my business is my business and I'd like to keep it that way."

Fred shut up, probably trying to figure out what the word intrinsic meant. Sam jumped when San-Li suddenly turned towards him. She didn't say anything, just looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What?" Sam asked.

She grinned wolfishly without saying anything and turned back around again.

"So what time period are you actually from?" Fred asked.

"21st century just like you two." She answered. "I usually reside either in America or Japan on my down time."

"America huh?" Fred smiled. "You should visit us sometime. I know a really cool restaurant called Ray's Pizzeria. You could meet my girlfriend Jodie. She's pretty cool although she can act kinda spastic around other cute girls."

"Aww too bad," San-Li cooed. "Maybe I could persuade her to share you? Just for a night of fun perhaps?"

Fred's jaw dropped and Sam could feel his own cheeks burning with embarrassment. Had San-Li seriously asked what he thought she just asked? When he took a closer look at her face though he could see that her lips were pressed tightly together in suppressed laughter. Sam didn't know why but he suddenly felt relieved.

"She's just messing with you, Fred." Sam rolled his eyes feeling annoyed at the both of them.

"Oh, right." Fred cleared his throat and looked away. "I knew that."

After a while they started coming across doors again and San-Li opened one and ushered them inside, closing the door behind her. The room wasn't totally bad looking, but it was no where near as fancy as first class. Inside there were two pairs of bunk beds, a table, and a chair. Underneath one of the bunk beds was a duffel bag. The stood in the middle of the room while San-Li lounged on the bottom bunk of one of the beds.

"What are we doing here?" Sam asked nervously. "Shouldn't we head to the library so we can find The Book before the ship sinks?"

"We will. The ship won't start sinking until around 12 or 1 am tomorrow." San-Li yawned. "Right now just relax and get some sleep. Start tomorrow fresh. You look like the type to stress out easily."

"Tell me about it." Fred rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed next to her. "Sam never has fun when we warp. He always thinks we're going to die or something."

San-Li suddenly sat up and got Fred in a choke hold with one arm. With the other arm she pulled out a knife and laid it against Fred's cheek.

"Oh but you could die." She whispered menacingly in his ear. "You could so very easily die, Fred."

She then burst out laughing, let go of Fred, and gently nudged him off the bed with her foot. Fred nervously laughed with her and exchanged a look of terror with Sam. San-Li threw her knife at the light switch to turn it off, casting the room in darkness. She then pulled the blanket over herself and settled down to sleep.

"What do we do?" Sam whispered to Fred. "We still don't know where the library is."

"Go to sleep I guess." Fred said loudly. "Boy am I exhausted."

He then leaned closer to Sam and whispered out the side of his mouth. "This chick is definitely off her rocker. I say we pretend to sleep for a little while then make a break for it in the morning before she wakes up."

"But," Sam whispered and glanced at her sleeping form. "We promised we'd take her with us remember? Her pocket watch is broken and she'll be stranded when the ship sinks."

"Yeah, but she's a girl remember," Fred shrugged. "They'll let her on a life boat."

"But what if she doesn't make it to one on time? The ship doesn't have enough stocked for everyone."

Fred gave a huff of exasperation. "Look, this girl seems like she's an expert at this okay? She'll probably be fine. We, on the other hand, are not experts. And I don't trust her okay?"

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You didn't seem too scared of her when you were inviting her to Ray's."

"That was before she pulled a knife on me out of nowhere and started laughing like a maniac." He grumbled.

Sam shrugged his shoulders feeling torn. On the one hand Fred was right about not trusting her, but then again they couldn't just leave her here could they? Fred climbed to the top bunk and the mattress creaked as he settled in. Sam yawned suddenly feeling drained. Casting one more glance at San-Li's sleeping figure he laid himself down on the scratchy bed and tried to catch some sleep.

* * *

It was Fred's snoring that woke him. That wasn't unusual though, Fred was a heavy and loud sleeper and often broke Sam out of his own slumber whenever they slept over at Joe's house. He was debating whether or not it was worth it to go back to sleep again when he noticed a blueish white light out of the corner of his eye. He put on his glasses and saw San-Li sitting on the floor with her back against her bed. Her headphones were in and she looked interested at whatever was happening on the screen. Her eyes flashed towards him and she took out an ear bud.

"You too huh?" She said gesturing towards a still snoring Fred.

"Yeah," Sam sat on the floor as well and gestured towards her tablet. "What are you doing?"

"Watching House of Cards. I have the whole season downloaded."

"Really?" Sam found himself grinning. "That has to be one of my favorite shows. Joe and Fred hate it though."

"Not surprised." San-Li shrugged. "It has a lot of political mumbo jumbo, but that just happens to be the sort of thing that interests me."

"Really?" Sam said quietly still smiling. "Me too."

San-Li smiled back at him, her face illuminated by the glow of the tablet. Her bangs were tucked behind her ear for once, leaving her eye patch completely exposed. Sam found himself staring at her with the extreme urge to see what was under that eye patch until he remembered the knife she had pressed against Fred just an hour or two earlier. He looked away quickly and waited for his heart to slow down. He had to remember that she was a dangerous time thief and she was incredibly manipulative.

He felt a ripple of cold air and suddenly San-Li was directly in front of him. With a seductive smile she placed her hands on the bed on either side of him, effectively boxing him in. She held his gaze for a moment before pulling out a large, black knife and held it to his face.

"You seem like a very, very smart guy, Sam." She whispered softly. "And, to be perfectly blunt and honest, I find myself feeling a bit attracted to you. However-"

Suddenly she grabbed a handful of his hair and slowly, but in a surprisingly gentle way, tilted his head to the side until his neck was exposed. Sam stifled a scream of terror as she gently traced his neck with the very tip of her blade. He glanced at her face to see if there was a chance this was one of her horrible jokes but she avoided his eyes and stared blankly at his neck instead.

"However," She continued in a low whisper. "I heard your friend talking about reneging on our agreement and planning on ditching me in the morning. I don't have to tell you that it hurt my feelings a little."

She removed the knife from his neck and he took in a shaky breath of relief. His heart was still pounding though and he had a temporary moment of insanity.

"You know, you pulling knifes out on us doesn't exactly win our sympathy, you know!" He hissed angrily.

He then blinked in surprise, shocked at his own boldness and saw that San-Li looked just as surprised as he was. Her lips twitched and for a terrifying moment Sam was afraid that she was going to snap and cut his throat. She burst out giggling though and Sam felt himself relaxing a little. He instantly tensed again when she pressed up against him and gently brushed her lips against his ear.

"I'm a bit of an unstable person Sam, if you couldn't tell." She whispered making him shiver. "But if you spend enough time with me, I bet I could make you unstable too."

"And why would I want that?" Sam grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "Why would I want to become unstable?"

"I dunno." San-Li chuckled and looked away.

There was an awkward silence as they listened to Fred move around in the bed and start snoring again. Sam felt extremely uncomfortable. What was San-Li trying to accomplish? She had clearly just threatened him hadn't she? Then why did he feel like he just hurt her feelings. Without another word or even as much as a glance towards him, San-Li got off the floor,climbed into her bed with her back towards him, and pulled on the blankets.

Sam felt to agitated to go to sleep, but he laid back down on the bed anyway. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew someone was shaking him awake.

"W-wha?" He blinked confused. "San-Li?"

"San-Li?" Fred whispered, leaning over him confusion written all over his face. "No it's me. Come on, let's get out of here before she wakes up."

Fred pulled him off the bed and started dragging him towards the door. Sam hesitated though and glanced at San-Li's still sleeping figure. He felt bad. It was weird to admit it, but he felt bad for her. She didn't seem like a totally bad person, just...crazy. Crazy with a seemingly unlimited supply of knifes.

"Well?" Fred whispered urgently. "Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah," Sam swallowed nervously. "Let's find the library so we can go home."


	5. Chapter 5

They spent forever looking for the library and when the finally found it they spent the majority of the day looking at every single book to find the one they were looking for. They alternated taking breaks to eat at the dining salon and Fred wanted to do a little exploring, but Sam absolutely refused to go anywhere else.

"Ugh, this is so stupid." Fred groaned quietly. "We've been looking for The Book for hours. I say we start actually asking people about it."

"Fred we still have a couple of book shelves to check." Sam whispered. "And do you want to risk running into San-Li again, because I sure don't. Especially not after we ran out on her."

"Well we wouldn't have done that if she wasn't so knife happy." Fred grumbled. "And bipolar."

"I don't think that she's bipolar," Sam mumbled thoughtfully. "It's more likely that she has either schizotypal personality disorder or borderline personality disorder."

Fred blinked and tried to wrap his mind around all the technical terms Sam was spewing. He didn't know why the exact term for her craziness mattered. Psycho was psycho right?

"Well as far as I know she's insane." Fred repeated.

Sam smirked and glanced up at him. "You didn't seem to think so when you were inviting her to Ray's for pizza."

"So?" Fred felt his face heat up. "Like I said before, she seemed pretty cool at first."

Sam snickered anyways which made Fred frown. It wasn't his fault that San-Li was a total hottie and could seem normal when she wanted to. He was only a guy after all. Or that she seemed to have the coolest job in the world. He grunted in frustration and went over to another book shelf.

"Well I'm not finding it." Fred said after a while. "And we need to think of another place to check."

"Well what do you suggest?" Sam asked with a sigh. "Where else can we look for The Book?"

Fred shrugged. "Beats me."

Sam huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was annoyed by one of them. Fred waited patiently for him to think. He would never let Sam actually know this, but Fred always knew that whenever they needed to figure out something, Sam was the one to go to. Sure enough Sam looked up with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Maybe the smoking room?" Sam said with a shrug.

Fred frowned. Okay, maybe not. "Um... neither of us smoke."

Sam gave an exasperated sigh and readjusted his glasses. "Fred, a smoking room is like a lounge where men get together and talk about important stuff like politics, money, and current events."

"That sounds...incredibly boring." Fred said.

"There might be books there." Sam shrugged. "Hopefully The Book will be there too."

* * *

Fred had no idea how late it had gotten until they stepped out onto the deck. The sun was just disappearing into the water and it would have been a really pretty sight if it wasn't so freezing out. Fred stamped his feet and pulled the his jacket tighter around his self and was grateful that San-Li had given him such heavy wool clothes.

Sam was peering around the water as well with a worried expression on his face, probably looking for icebergs or something. Oh...right.

"Come on, we're running out of time." Sam mumbled. "Let's hurry up and find the smoking room before it's too late."

They asked one of the few men walking on deck where the second class smoking room was and headed in the direction that he indicated.

"Hey wait," Sam stopped and put a hand on Fred's arm. "Do you see that? Up there?"

Fred looked where he was pointing and saw what looked like a dark figure repelling down a rope that ran from a flag pole and disappeared somewhere in the distance pass a smoke stack.

"There's no way that could be her right?" Fred mumbled to Sam.

"Yeah," Sam mumbled back. "No way."

They quickly went back inside and found a door that said "2nd class smoking room" on the plaque. The room was hazy with cigarette smoke and he and Sam struggled not to cough their lungs out. It was a lot louder though than Fred had anticipated and there was a lot more laughing even some women. A piano was playing in the background adding to the noise.

"Hey," Sam had to talk loudly over to noise. "I don't see any book shelves in here. What do we do now?"

A red headed man with two cigarettes in his hands over heard them and leaned over to answer Sam's question.

"If you're looking for books gents try the library on the floor below." He said loudly. "The only other place that has books is the 1st class smoking room and I doubt they'll let you two in there."

Sam shoulders sagged in defeat, but Fred leaned forward.

"We're looking for a special book." Fred said. "It's super valuable and it's-"

"Say no more, I know exactly what you're talking about." The man nodded eagerly. "A friend of mine was talking about it earlier."

"Great!" Fred grinned eagerly. "Did he say where it was?"

"Well it's supposed to be pretty valuable," the man shrugged. "So I'm guessing the cargo hold."

"And where's the cargo hold?"

"Below deck, on the other side of the ship." The man smiled before being pulled away into a card game.

"Great, just great!" Sam exclaimed in exasperation.

"What are you so worried about?" Fred asked. "He said it was in the cargo hold, where ever that is."

"That's at the bottom of the ship, Fred." Sam said turning pale. "And the ship is going to start sinking in a few hours. If we don't find The Book here, the ship will start sinking and we'll miss the life boats and then we'll freeze to death in that icy cold water!"

Fred swallowed nervously and could feel panic start to rise in his chest, but he forced himself to push it away. He grabbed Sam by the shoulders and shook him a little.

"Don't panic okay?" He said sternly. "We'll find The Book. It will be in the cargo hold. So let's hurry up and get down there so we can go back home."

Sam was still looking a bit green but nodded. The hurried out of the smoking room and found an elevator that would take them down to nearly the lowest deck. Sam was practically hyperventilating by the time they actually got to the cargo hold. Even Fred felt his stomach drop when they snuck inside and saw just how massive the room was. There were even several fancy cars in the dimly lit room.

Fred let out a low whistle. "The Book has definitely got to be in here."

"Let's hope so," Sam whispered back. "Otherwise we're going to be ice cubes."

They went around opening boxes and bins, trying to stay quiet so that no one would hear them and think they were stealing. They both froze when they heard quiet shuffling noises.

_A rat? _Fred mouthed to Sam.

Sam shook his head and gestured to the right. Fred looked and sure enough he could see a glimmer of light reflecting off of one of the boxes. A flashlight. Fred eyed a nearby crow bar and gestured to it. Sam looked confused. He made a swinging motion and Sam shook his head vehemently. Fred nodded though, grabbed the crow bar, and slowly walked over the source of the light. If it was one of the ship patrol men then they would get locked up again and he highly doubted that San-Li was going to come back and rescue them again.

Sam followed close behind him as he snuck up on a dark figure riffling though a box. Fred lifted the crow bar up slowly and the figure suddenly stiffened. He swung quickly and the figure barely managed to spin around and dodge to the side. Before Fred could recover from the momentum the figure threw a round house kick that caught him in the side and sent him crashing into one of the boxes. Sam screamed and he heard the sharp sound of metal before a sword blade stopped inches from his face.

"Wait a minute, Fred?"

Fred opened his eyes and saw San-Li standing over him. She re-sheathed her sword and started laughing.

"Geez, Fred. You nearly took my head off with that thing." She giggled. "I mean, people aren't usually able usually able to sneak up on me like that."

"Um thanks?" Fred stood up cautiously.

"Football right?"

"Huh?"

"You play football right?" San-Li looked him up and down. "Muscles and speed usually equal a football player."

Fred found himself smiling. "Yeah that's right. I also play j.v baseball too."

"Fred focus!" Sam said sharply. "The ship could hit an iceberg any minute now and we still have to find The Book!"

"The Book?" San-Li tilted her head to the side. "I thought you found that thing in the library?"

Fred shook his head in frustration. "It wasn't there. But some guy in the smoking room said that it might be in here somewhere."

"Did he now?" San-Li raised an eyebrow and reached into the crate she was rummaging in. "I hope he didn't mean this book."

She pulled out a small golden book covered with jewels and intricate designs. Fred felt his stomach knot and saw that Sam had gone pale.

"Like it?" San-Li said. "It's called the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. It's a book of Persian poetry written by Omar Khayyam and translated by Edward FitzGerald. Beautiful isn't it?"

"But its not The Book." Sam whispered faintly. "It's not The Book."

"No," San-Li shrugged non-nonchalant. "But I know where it is."

"You do?" Sam jumped in front of her eagerly. "Where is it? Where did you find it?"

"Why in the world," San-Li smile became malicious. "would I tell you guys that? You two jerks ditched me remember?"

"And we are so so sorry about that," Fred tried to smile. "We were just a little freaked out with you constantly pulling knives out on us."

"True," She shrugged and there was a hard look in her eyes. "And in return you guys tried to leave me stranded on a sinking ship. Sounds like a fair trade to me."

"Wow, I'm glad you understand." Fred said relieved. "So you'll tell us where The Book is, right?"

"Fred she was being sarcastic." Sam nudged him.

"Oh."

"Besides." San-Li smiled and took out her watch. "This stupid thing is working again and now I have a way home. I don't need you two anymore."

Suddenly, the ship jerked and shook violently for a moment before becoming still again.

"Oh no, oh no," Sam started shaking. "That has to be the iceberg, which means we only have two hours until the ship sinks. Please, please, please San-Li,"

Sam got on his knees before her and grabbed her hands. "Please, help us find The Book. We're begging you!"

"We?" San-Li asked casting a look at Fred.

Fred sighed in aggravation and for a moment seriously considered taking their chances and finding The Book themselves. Sam threw him a look of desperation though and he took one of San-Li hands and also got on his knees before her.

"Please help us find The Book," Fred gave her his most charming smile. "I'll take you out to Ray's if you do."

Sam gave him a look and Fred wondered if he had gone too far, but the corner of San-Li's mouth twitched upwards and she snatched her hands away.

"Ugh, I hate begging men." She gave a small smirk. "Third class smoking room. Someone was bragging about how someone from first class must have left it there. Better hurry."

Fred and Sam got up and ran out of the cargo hold. As soon as they made it up the first flight of stairs they were bombarded by a rush of confused looking passengers dressed in close to rags. They also noticed that the floor was titling away from them.

The ship was definitely sinking.


	6. Chapter 6

They literally made their way up the ship practically climbing over other passengers as they tried to make their way to the top floor. By the time they reached the smoking room marked for third class, they could barely stand up right. Passengers were panicking by now and Fred heard someone yell that they were only letting first class passengers on the life boats.

Fred yanked the door open of the smoking room open and pulled Sam inside, before going in himself. Furniture was starting to slide across the floor and Fred's heart practically lept into his throat. This was way too eerie; no wonder why Sam was freaking out.

"There it is!" Sam yelled pointing at a small table.

Sure enough The Book was one a small table...which was slowly sliding towards the still lit fireplace. Fred ran out and grabbed it just in time. Before he could even breathed a sigh of relief, Sam tackled him, pushing him to the side just as a large arm chair slide past where Fred was standing just a few seconds ago and into the fire.

"Thanks," Fred said gratefully. "I think you just saved my life."

"Don't thank me just yet."

Sam pointed again and Fred saw that the chair had caught fire. Several other pieces of furniture were also sliding after it, making the fire grow even larger.

"Come on," Fred yelled pulling Sam up. "We have to get out of here before we're burned to a crisp."

They went through another side door and found themselves outside in the frigid night air. People were running and screaming everywhere around them. Fred tried to open The Book and warp them home, but he nearly lost his footing.

"What do we do?" Sam yelled wide eyed.

"Let's use that railing," Fred yelled back. "And work our way towards the bow of the ship. We can try climbing over the bow of the ship like they did in the movies."

Sam nodded and Fred tucked The Book inside of his jacket so it wouldn't fall out. They used the railing to try and climb up the ship but it was harder than Fred thought it would be. For one thing the rail was freezing cold and it hurt to touch it. Another thing was that the ship was starting to tilt even further and there were times their feet didn't even touch the floor.

As soon as they reached the bow of the ship the lights flickered and everything went dark. Fred could hear Sam hyperventilating next to him amid the wails and screams of other passengers. Suddenly his feet went out from under him and he clung to the railing desperately.

"Sam!?" He called out, his breath coming out short. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah!" Sam panted next to him. "I'm here."

"Um I don't think I can climb over the railing."

"Me neither."

"And I don't think I can pull out The Book without dropping it."

"Isn't that too bad."

Fred and Sam both looked up and saw the air tremble right above them. San-Li materialized, landed gracefully on the other side of the railing and smiled down on them.

"San-Li," Fred breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you help us up?"

"I could," San-Li shrugged. "But what's in it for me?"

"You'd be a decent human being," Sam frowned. "And you'd be saving us for dying."

"But Sam," San-Li said quietly, her eyes cold as the night air. "There are a lot of people dying tonight. Why would I save you two and not any of them?"

Sam fell silent, probably from shock and they all listened to the wailing of thousands of people falling and freezing to death. Fred shook his head to try and push away the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Then he had an idea.

"Sam's smart," He said breathlessly. "Really smart. He knows a lot about history stuff and if you save us he could help you with your time thieving."

Sam's jaw dropped in shock and San-Li looked intrigued.

"Could he now?" She said smiling slowly. "So if I agree to save you two he'll assist me on my jobs?"

"Yeah! Sure I will!" Sam yelled sarcastically. "If you save us I'll help you with your time thieving whenever you want!"

Sam thrust his arm in the air for emphasis and San-Li reached out and grabbed it.

"Deal!"

"What!?"

The was a flash of bright light from where San-Li grabbed Sam on the forearm causing him to scream and let go of the railing. Fred called out his name in terror and suddenly he was falling as well. As he fell he looked up to see San-Li diving after them. She wrapped one arm around his waist, the other around Sam's and for a split second Fred felt like his body was made of air.

The next thing he knew they were all on top of a falling smoke stack had become horizontal. Fred realized that he could stand even as it was falling and saw San-Li had an arm around Sam's shoulder and was trying to help him stand as well.

"Fred!" She called to him. "Hurry up and use that book of yours before we all die!"

"But the ban." Fred yelled back. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine." She nodded.

Fred opened the book, found the emergency return home button, and the mist wrapped around them to warp them home.

* * *

Fred and Sam landed in a heap in the middle of Joe's now clean kitchen while San-Li landed gracefully on her feet.

"Finally," She sighed happily. "A relatively smooth time warping."

Joe and Fina ran into the kitchen and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw San-Li. Joe clenched his fists and looked ready to pop a blood vessel.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He said angrily.

Fred stepped in front of San-Li protectively and held up his hands. "Whoa Joe, calm down. San-Li just saved me and Sam's lives."

"Really?" He lowered his fist slowly. "She did? The person who tried to kill me and threatened Anna?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah, if it wasn't for her Sam and I would be ice sculptures by now."

"What is this on my arm!?" Sam yelled suddenly.

What looked like black ink circled Sam's forearm in weird twisting symbols and designs. Sam rushed over to the sink to try and scrub it off, but all he succeeded in doing was scrub his arm raw.

Fina rushed over to him and gasped. "It's a bond marking."

"A what?" Fred and Joe asked at the same time.

"A bond marking." San-Li spoke up with a small smile. "As part of our arrangement, I saved Fred and Sam's lives and now Sam is bonded to me."

"What!?" Sam said angrily. "I didn't agree to that!"

"Yes you did." San-Li nodded and smiled wider. "You said, and I quote, 'If you save us I'll help you with your time thieving when you want'. End quote."

"But, but," Sam sunk to the floor in shock. "I was being sarcastic. I didn't actually mean it."

"Sam," Fina shook her head slowly. "It doesn't matter how you said it or what you meant. In your own words you technically agreed to enter a bond with her."

"And now he belongs to me." San-Li said happily. "So I guess I'll be seeing more of you Warp Wizard."

She then laughed and disappeared in a ripple of dark air leaving everyone in stunned silence.

* * *

Dark yellow smoke filled the air making San-Li cough. She looked around in disgust at the chipped and broken historical artifacts that floated around her. She always hated coming here but if she didn't make her report to him then he was just going to keep nagging at her until she did.

"Well?" He said in a low growl. "Do you have it yet?"

"No," San-Li muttered. "The ban from the previous Warp Wizard is still on The Book."

"Then why are you here!" He yelled and started to stand but sat down again in a fit of coughing.

"Ugh," San-Li's lip curled in disgust. This man was nearly ninety years old and it looked like the man's skin was actually cracking. "Calm down old man before you hack off a lung. I said I'll get The Book alright?"

"And you'd better." The man coughed into a rag. "If you ever want me to tell you what I know about what you seek. You had better get me The Book as soon as possible."

"I'm working on it alright?" San-Li said desperately. "The boy doesn't know how to remove the ban yet and I miscalculated by threatening him, but recently I've created a bond with the weaker of his two best friends and the other keeps letting his guard down around me so he'll be easy to fool if I need to."

"Excellent." The old man nodded. "My dear sweet nephew thought he had me defeated, but he's in for an unpleasant surprise."

San-Li rolled her eyes as he started laughing manically and chose that moment to use his pocket watch and warp out of there. She landed in her apartment and rubbed her forehead feeling exhausted. She reached into a fridge for a beer. Legally speaking she was about three years too young to drink alcohol and honestly tried not to do it too often but she needed to numb her brain for a while. She was only able take a few sips before a wave of guilt hit her. It was too bad really, they seemed like nice kids. Really nice kids. But then again sometimes horrible things happened to nice kids... innocent little kids. As a matter of fact she used to be a nice kid too.

"Rraaaaa!" A scream ripped from her throat and she threw her bottle of beer into the wall.

She watched as beer and broken pieces of glass slide down onto her kitchen floor. She brushed the hair out of her face and forced herself to smile through her tears. Her life was about to get a lot more interesting.

**A/N- experimenting with a new, darker angstier San-Li**


End file.
